I really hate Petco and feel sorry for the victims of them.

[Chief]

I've never trusted Petco or any other large chain pet store with their birds.

Over the years, a lot of the times the parakeets in that pentagon(?) shape glass have a note on them saying that they are not for sale. Hmm..wonder why.

They had this sun conure who was not even a year old. Every time I would go there I would pet him through his cage and talk to him.
Then one day, he was breathing heavy and squawking at the bottom of the cage. I felt so sorry for it. Now he's been gone for over a month....????
Now they got ANOTHER one. A baby green cheek conure. He seemed fine but now HE is on the bottom rocking back and forth all fluffed up. WHAT'S GOING ON?? That sign saying he is not for sale is up. Oh jeeze, YA TNINK he could go home.

I just don't like them. I've been to other Petcos you know and their birds seem fine but ehh.

I also went to Pet Supplies and they had those 8in1 cage protector for mites and stuff. I heard that was bad for the birds.

It' s so disappointing..they treat them like some fake interactive animal that just eats, sleeps, and poops.

[Alan]

Do ya want to know how to fix it? Call their customer service #. I showed out over a lorikeet that they had at the one local to me. The manager wanted to act like I knew nothing about birds. So I left at her request after calling attention to my self thru out the store. And of course loud on the way out. Well the lorikeet had seed and pellets to eat. NO LORIKEET FOOD AT ALL! Feathers were horrible and it was just sitting there. I called their customer service number and 3 days later went back in and the lorikeet was being taken care of properly. I found it online and showed out when i called them too. The next day i got a call from the district manager to come in when he was there and meet him, so I did. We had a very interesting convo about birds and what i knew about them and what I had in my home all while the manager was standing there looking stupid. Now the manager knows that i have a diverse flock of birds and can prolly take care of a parakeet better than her. So when I say something is wrong she doesn't act like i am stupid no more and gets it fixed. She knows i don't play when it comes to the birds.

[pecks]

It really does depend on who's managing/working at each individual store, sadly. Thankfully the Petco near me actually takes good care of their birds. They always have a variety of toys, clean cages, and full bowls of food (seeds/pellets/fresh foods). The manager at this one is a parrot owner himself, so I suppose that must be why these other birds are in such good shape. It's a shame that there isn't a nationwide standard for them, though. It's horrible what happens to animals (not just birds) who are unlucky enough to end up in a store that couldn't care less about them. :(

EDIT: That's great, Alan. I think everyone should take that to heart that when they walk into a pet shop that doesn't take care of their animals, customers do have the power to make some changes...if you know who and how to bring it to the attention of those in positions of authority.

[hsmoscout]

The people at our local PETCO said that if we want a good quality pet we should go to Varietees Bird Shop. They even gave us directions!!! They actually cared about our relationship with the bird! It just depends who works at the PETCO and if they actually give a rats "butt." But the prices are ridiculous. At the bird shop, you can get a GCC for $175 and at PETCO they are $400.

[FirstTimeBirdie]

In the one by me, the conures are all well taken care of, but the budgies in the octagon all look sick. It's disturbing. And they have one sun who lost 2 toes, so they're being gracious and taking 20 percent off of the original $650. Give me a break.

[asulli]

They do not even know what they have and how to price them. My area Petsmart has a GCC for $399.99 and a Pineapple GCC for $349.00. I wanted to buy them both! If I would have had the extra cash I would of. They had not toys in there. When I told the young girl that worked there that they needed something to play with she actually told me go to the aisle get 1 toy each and I will put it in there....so I did.

[MissV]

I think I've shared the story about Karis a few times now....but yeah. About 495 for a Dusky, but I just had to get her out of there. Still working on reversing the damage.

Today I was sort of curled around her at the door of her cage and she was letting me pet her all over...and even willingly put one foot on my finger!
She's getting there....she's fantastic (but really shy and easily scared) away from her cage, but she's still terrified of willingly leaving it. She's getting there though. ^^

Still, when the cage is big enough and the food is right, I don't know how much we can do about the fact that no one gives them attention and out of cage time....I mean, I don't know that they play with their cats or rodents either. :/ And they need the same exact thing.

I guess one could argue that they would sell birds faster if they could keep them sociable and outgoing and friendly. Who's gonna want a bird who sits at the back of their cage looking miserable and doesn't want to ever be taken out? (I mean, aside from people like us who know that's not the end for them!)

[jenniferag]

I freaking hate Petco!

Every bird I see at all of them around me are not good at all!

I've written and complained to one store and got an e-mail back saying that they were going to work on better housing but I don't know if things have changed cause we moved away...

So SAD!

[Ashling]

Great job Alan, thanks for saving that lorikeet.

I'm glad that in Aus the RSPCA comes down hard on any neglect cases that are brought to their attention. However I don't know what to do about a bird dealer that leaves the lights on all night so the birds don't get proper sleep?

[LovelySydney]

The petco by me is actually really nice. They have a black capped conure and hes so beautiful, his name is Neko. I want him so bad but they are asking $550!! yea right! I looked online though and the price is pretty high for black caps, but not that high!! They take good care of their birds there, every time Im there I go in and check, always ready to leave a note for the manager or talk to someone about what the birds SHOULD have, if they dont already.